Folding chair



Aug. 10, 1965 F. HAMILTON ETAL FOLDING CHAIR 3 Sheets-Sheet l 7 Filed July 31, 1963 m muLMfl N 0 8/ E M VA M H rr P LMW R w P E E a W {A Aug. 10, 1965 HAMILTON ETAL 3,199,915

FOLDING CHAIR Filed July 51, 1963 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVEIF'BIQS. EARL F HAMILTON BY RALPH B. LAY EDW/N K. MooR (Auk, 1 h v Aug. 10, 1965 E. F. HAMILTON ETAL 3,199,915

FOLDING CHAIR Filed July 31, 1965 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTORS. EARL F HAMILTON BY RALPH B. LAY /.E DWIN KMOORE (AG-LL, 8.10:

United States Patent Columbus, Ind, assignors to Hamilton Cosco, Inc, a

corporation of lndiana Filed July 31, 1963, Ser. No. 299,055 3 Claims. (Cl. 297-42) This invention relates to a folding chair, and more particularly to improvements in a foldable chair of the type shown in U.S. Patent No. 2,860,692.

It is an object of our invention to provide a chair which can be folded into a compact collapsed position, but which when its parts are in operative chair-forming position will offer but little indication of its collapsibility, which can be releasably locked in its operative chairforming position, and which can be economically manufactured largely from inexpensive metal-tubing and sheetmetal.

In carrying out the invention in its preferred form, there is provided a back frame having a pair of rear supporting legs. A pair of generally L-shaped side members are swingably connected to said pair of rear-supporting egs on vertical axes for swinging movement between retracted positions generally coplanar with said back frame and operative positions generally normal thereto. Each of said side members is provided with a front leg and a generally horizontal seat support swingably inter connected to one of the rear legs and adapted to support the chair seat when said members are in operative position.

The chair seat is swingably mounted on the chair by a seat rod having a transversely extending intermediate stretch rotatably connected to the seat on a first transverse axis. The ends of said rod project outwardly from the seat and are rotatably connected to the back on a second transverse axis. in this manner, the seat is swingable about said first and second axes between an operative position in which it is supported on the horizontal seat supports of said side members and a retracted position in which it overlies and is disposed in a plane generally parallel to said side members in their retracted positions. Said seat is also provided with locking means for releasably locking it in its operative position.

Other objects and features of our invention will become apparent from the more detailed description which follows and from the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary side elevation of a chair embodying our invention;

FIG. 2 is a horizontal section taken on the line 2- of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged horizontal section similar to FIG. 2, but showing the legs and seat in retracted position;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary bottom view of the chair seat shown in FIG. 1;

PEG. 5 is a vertical section taken on the line 5-5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a vertical section taken on the line 66 of FIG. 4, and showing the structure for releasably locking the seat in operative position;

FIG. 7 is a vertical section through the seat pan and one of the side members, and showing another embodiment for locking the seat in operative position;

FIG. 8 is a vertical section taken on the line 8-8 of PEG. 7;

' FIG. 9 is a vertical section through the seat pan and one of the side members, and showing another embodiment for locking the seat in operative position;

' FIG. 10 is a vertical section taken on the line 1019 of FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a side elevation similar to FIG. 1 and show- BJQiifilS Patented Aug. 16, 1965 ing another embodiment of our invention for locking the seat in operative position;

FIG. 12 is a horizontal section taken on the line 1212 of FIG. 11;

FIG. 13 is a fragmentary vertical section taken on the line 3.313 of FIG. 12; and

FIG. 14 is a bottom plan View of the seat pan for the seat shown in FIG. 13.

The chair shown in the drawings comprises a back member it formed from metal-tubing bent into a generally inverted U-shape and positioned in a transverse plane so that its upper end frames the back of the chair and its lower ends serve as the rear supporting legs 14 for the chair. Transverse bars 15 extend across the upper portion of the back member it) to serve as a back support, and such bars and a stretcher l6 interconnecting the legs 14 add rigidity to the back member.

Each front leg 18 of the chair is formed as the vertical stretch of a generally L-shaped side member 2A) pivotally connected to the associated rear chair leg 15 for horizontal swinging thereabout between a retracted position shown in PEG. 3 in which it is generally coplanar with the chair back and an operative position shown in FIG. 1 in which it is generally perpendicular thereto to position the front leg 18 well forwardly of the back member ill. The horizontal stretch of the side member 20 forms a seat support 22 upon which a chair seat 24 may rest when the side members 20 are in operative position. The rear ends of the seat supports 22 are fixedly connected to sheet-metal brackets 26 which are rotatably mounted on the legs 14 for thus permitting horizontal swinging of the side members 20 between their retracted and operative positions.

The seat 24 comprises a seat pan 23 having a covering 29 disposed thereover and secured thereto. Conveniently, the seat pan 2% is formed as a sheet-metal stamping and is provided with a downwardly projecting, peripherally extending flange 3t) terminating in a stiifening bead 32. Portions of the metal forming the seat pan are pressed upwardly to provide laterally spaced, longitudinally extending grooves 33 adjacent the lateral seat edges which are received over the seat supports 22 when the side members it) are in operative position. The sloping Walls of each groove 33 cooperate with the walls of the seat supports 22 to cam the side members 20 into proper angular relation with the back even though the untolding of the side members is slightly erroneous.

The seat 24 is pivotally connected to the back it by a seat rod having an intermediate stretch as rotatably fastened to the underside of the seat pan 2% on a transverse axis by a pair of brackets 38. As shown in FIG. 5, each of the brackets 38 has a tongue 3h received in an opening 46 formed in the seat pan for connecting one end of said bracket to the seat pan. Apair of screws 42 extend through openings in the opposite end of the bracket and are received in seat pan openings for connecting said opposite bracket end to the seat pan and holding an upwardly open bracket channel 44 in embracing relationship with the rod stretch 36. The bracket channels 44 are sufiiciently large such that with the tongues 39 bearing against the upper face of the seat pan 28 and the screws 42 drawn up tight, the rod stretch 36 may be easily rotated within said channels.

The outer ends of the rodstretch 36 are continuous with a pair of stretches 46 which are bent downwardly and rearwardly to extend below and rearwardly of the flange 3t) and then upwardly and further rearwardly to thus form a pair of V-shaped stretches in which the portion of the flange 30 extending along the rear edge of the seat is received when the seat is in operative position. The upper ends of the stretches 46 are bent outwardly, as at 48, and are rotatably received in aligned to permit the side members 2th to be swung inwardly about the axes of the legs 14 into their retracted positions shown in FIG. 3. The seat 24 is then free to swing downwardly; swinging about the axes of the rod stretches 36 and rod ends 48 into its retracted posi-- tion shown in FIG. 3 in which it is generally coplanar with the back member 10 and the retracted side members 20. To move the seat and side members into operative position the sequence just described is merely reversed.

With the pair of transverse pivot axes formed by the rod stretches 36 and rod ends 43, there is a tendency for the rear portion of the seat to swing upwardly about the axis of the stretches 36 when a weight is applied to the front seat edge. To overcome such tendency and thus releasably lock the seat 24- against rotation about the axis of the rod stretches 3-6, the intermediate seat rod stretch 36 is provided with a rearwardly extending, U-shaped offset 5% intermediate the brackets 38. The offset 50 is adapted to be closely adjacent the bottom of the seat pan 23 in parallelism d with said dimple received in the channel, the rear edge of the seat is prevented from rocking upwardly about the axis of the rod stretch 3-5 when a downward force is applied to the .front edge of the seat. To free the dimple as from the channel 65 for collapsing the chair, it is merelynecessary to apply an upward and forward lifting effort to the front of the seat, after which, the chair can be collapsed in the manner previously described. g

Another alternative structure for: releasably locking the seat in operative position and preventing the rear edge thereof from rocking upwardly is shown in FIGS. 11-14.

a The back of the chair constitutes a back frame 7% formed therewith when the seat is in operative position.v A porextending through longitudinally extending slots 57 formed in the slide and openings formed in the seat pan portion 52. With the slide in its full line position shown in FIG. 4, it overlies the rod offset to thus prevent any relative swinging movement of the rod and seat and retains the seat in its operative position supported on the side members 2%. However, upon movement of said slide into the dotted line position of FIG. 4, as by a forwardly directed force applied to the slide finger 58, the rod offset 5% will clear the slide and the slide may be swung about the axes of both the rod ends 48 and rod stretches 36 between its retractedand operative positions.

An alternative structure for releasably locking the seat in operative position and preventing its rocking about the axis of the rod stretch 36 is shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. In this arrangement, the seat pan 28 is also and side supports'are in their operative positions.

from a length of tubing bentinto a U-shape so that its ends form the chair rear legs '71. Each of the chair front legs 72 is formed as the vertical stretch of an L- shaped side member 73 pivotally connected to its associated rear leg by a bracket 74 rotatably mounted on said rear leg whereby the front legs are horizontally swingable between retracted positions generally parallel with the back frame and operative positions generally normal thereto.

The horizontal stretches 76 of the side members form supports upon which the seat 77 is carried when said segt T e seat 77 comprises a seat pan 78 provided with a peripherally extending, downwardly projecting flanged? and having a padded covering 3i) extending thereover. The seat isfcon'nected'to therear legs by a transversely extending seat'rod having an intermediate stretch 3i rotata bly interconnected to the underside of the seat pan 78 by a pair of brackets 82. The outer ends of the rod stretch 81 are bent downwardly and rearwardly to extend below the seat pan flange 79 and then upwardly to form V-shaped stretches '83 in which the flange 79 is cradled when the seat is in operative position. The upper ends of the stretches 83 are bent outwardly, as at 34, and are rotatably received ,in aligned openings in the legs '71.

As shown in FIG. 14, a pair of upwardly pressed, longitudinally extending grooves 85 are formed in the seat pan 78 adjacent its lateral edges for reception over the horizontal side member stretches 76 when the seat and side members are moved'into operative positions. To

' prevent the rear edge of the seat from rocking upwardly provided with lateral-1y spaced longitudinally extending grooves 33', each which is received over the seat support 22 of a side member. One or both of the grooves 33' has a rearwardly directed ear 6% struck downwardly therefrom which is receivable in a slot 62 formed in the upper face of the associated seat support. When the ear 6%) is received in the slot 62, its lower edge is disposed rearwardly of the rear edge of said slot to thus prevent the rear edge of the seat from rocking upwardly about the axis of the seat-rod interconnection when a downward force is applied to the front edge of the seat. To free the ear 6% from the slot 62 for collapsing the chair, it 'is merely necessary to apply an upward and forward lifting efiort to the front of the seat, after which, the chair can be collapsed in the manner previously described.

Still another alternative structure for releasably locking the seat in operative position and preventing its about the axis of the'rod stretch 81 when a downward force is applied to the front portion of the seat '77, an inwardly projecting boss 86 is formed in the seat pan flange 79 along each lateral seat'edge. The bosses are located rearwardly of the transverse seat center line and adjacent the lower edge of the flange 79 so that they will project under the side member stretches '76 when the seat is moved into operative position. The seat pan grooves locate the stretches 76laterally of the seat, but said stretches may be stressed sufficiently laterally inwardly in said grooves to permit the bosses 86 to be snappedin under said stretches as the seat is swung into operative position.

A transversely extending, downwardly projecting head 87 is also formed in each of the seat pan grooves 85. The beads 88 are received in mating transversely extending recesses 89 formed in the upper faces of the side member stretches '76. Said beads and recesses act in combination with each other when the seat is in its operative position to prevent said seat from sliding forwardly on the stretches 76 when a forwardly directed force is applied to the. rear of the seat.

The embodiments of the invention shown in FIGS. 7l4 are directed to the structure for releasably locking the seat in operative position and" differ from the chair shown in FIGS. 1-6 in this regard. However, in using the embodiments shown in FIGS.- 7-14 it will not be necessary to provide the rod oifset 50 and slide 54 arrangement, shown in FIGS. 4 and 6 since such embodiments are alternatives thereof.

We claim:

1. In a collapsible chair,

(a) a back member providing rear supporting legs,

(b) a seat,

(c) a pair of side members each of which is provided with a front leg and horizontal seat support swingably associated with said back member for horizontal swinging between a retracted position generally coplanar with the back member and an operative position in which the front legs are disposed well forwardly of the back member to provide front supporting legs for the chair,

(d) a seat rod having a transversely extending intermediate stretch rotatably connected to said seat on a first transverse axis and end stretches projecting outwardly from said seat and rotatably connected to said back member on asecond transverse axis rearwardly of said first transverse axis, whereby upon movement of said side members into retracted position said seat is swingable downwardly about said first and second axes from its operative position in which it is supported on the horizontal seat supports of said members to its retracted position in which it overlies and is disposed in a plane generally parallel to said side members in their retracted positions,

(c) said seat having a pair of laterally spaced longitudinally extending grooves receivable over said horizontal seat supports, and

(f) a pair of bosses on the walls of said grooves adjacent the rear of the seat receivable under said horizontal seat supports upon movement of said seat and side members into operative position, said bosses releasably retaining said seat in a fixed position with respect to at least said first axis when said seat is in operative position.

2. In a collapsible chair,

(a) a back member providing rear supporting legs,

(b) a seat,

(c) a pair of side members each of which is provided with a front leg and horizontal seat support swingably associated with said back member for horizontal swinging between a retracted position generally coplanar with the back member and an operative position in which the front legs are disposed well forwardly of the back member to provide front supporting legs for the chair,

(d) a seat rod having a transversely extending intermediate stretch rotatably connected to said seat on a first transverse axis and end stretches projecting outwardly from said seat and rotatably connected to said back member on a second transverse axis, whereby upon movement of said side members into retracted position said seat is swingable downwardly about said first and second axes from its operative position in which it is supported on the horizontal seat supports of said side members to its retracted position in which it overlies and is disposed in a plane generally parallel to said side members in their retracted positions,

(c) said seat having a pair of laterally spaced longitudinally extending grooves receivable over said horizontal seat supports, and

(f) transversely extending, downwardly directed projections are formed in said grooves matingly receivable in transverse recesses formed in the upper 6 faces of said horizontal seat supports upon move ment of said seat and side members into operative positions, said projections and recesses being formed in the grooves and said supports, respectively, adjacent the front ends thereof and releasably retaining said seat in a fixed position with respect to at least said first axis when said seat is in operative position.

3. In a collapsible chair,

(a) a back member providing rear supporting legs,

(b) a seat,

(c) a pair of side members each of which is provided with a front leg and horizontal seat support swingably associated with said back member for horizontal swinging between a retracted position generally coplanar with the back member and an operative position in which the front legs are disposed well forwardly of the back member to provide front supporting legs for the chair,

(d) a seat rod having a transversely extending intermediate stretch rotatably connected to said seat on a first transverse axis and end stretches projecting outwardly from said seat and rotatably connected to said back member on a second transverse axis rear Wardly of said first transverse axis, whereby upon movement of said side members into retracted position said seat is swingable downwardly about said first and second axes from its operative position in which it is supported on the horizontal seat supports of said side members to its retracted position in which it overlies and is disposed in a plane generally parallel to said side members in their retracted positions,

(e) said seat having a pair of laterally spaced longi tudinally extending grooves receivable over said horizontal seat supports, and

(f) a pair of bosses on the walls of said grooves rearwardly of the transverse seat center line, and

(g) transversely extending, downwardly directed projections formed in said grooves,

(h) said bosses being receivable under said horizontal seat supports and said projections being receivable in mating recesses formed in the upper faces of said seat supports upon movement of said seat and seat supports into operative position, said bosses, projections, and recesses releasably retaining said seat in a fixed position with respect to at least said first axis when said seat is in operative position.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 148,611 3/74 Horton 108-124 179,978 7/76 Vaill 297-40 2,460,027 '1/49 Nash 297440 2,774,413 12/56 Shepherdson 297-59 2,860,692 11/58 Hamilton 29742 2,887,348 5/59 Sadowsky 108124 2,948,332 8/60 Hamilton 297-59 2,991,123 7/61 Hamilton 297 3,086,813 4/63 Best et al 297-40 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,249,540 11/60 France.

98,605 9/61 Norway.

FRANK B. SHERRY, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN A COLLAPSIBLE CHAIR. (A) A BACK MEMBER PROVIDING REAR SUPPORTING LEGS, NB) A SEAT. (C) A PAIR OF SIDE MEMBERS EACH OF WHICH IS PROVIDED WITH A FRONT LEG AND HORIZONTAL SEAT SUPPORT SWINGABLE ASSOCIATED WITH SAID BACK MEMBER FOR BORIZONTAL SWINGING BETWEEN A RETRACTED POSITIONED GENERALLY COPLANAR WITH THE BACK MEMBER AND AN OPERATIVE POSITION IN WHICH THE FRONT LEGS ARE DISPOSED WELL FORWARDLY OF BACK MEMBER TO PROVIDE FRONT SUPPORTING LEGS FOR THE CHAIR. (D) A SEAT ROD HAVING A TRANSVERSELY EXTENDING INTERMEDIATE STRETCH ROTATABLE CONNECTED TO SAID SEAT ON A FIRST TRANSVERSE AXIS AND END STRETCHES PROJECTING OUTWARDLY FROM SAID SEAT AND ROTATABLY CONNECTED TO SAID BACK MEMBER ON A SECOND TRANSVERSE AXIS REARWARDLY OF SAID FIRST TRANSVERSE AXIS, WHEREBY UPON MOVEMENT OF SAID SIDE MEMBERS INTO RETRACTED POSITION SAID SEAT IN SWINGABLE DOWNWARDLY ABOUT AID FIRST AND SECOND AXES FROM ITS OPERATIVE POSITION IN WHICH IT IS SUPPORTED ON THE HORIZONTAL SEAT SUPPORTS OF SAID MEMBERS TO ITS RETRACTED POSITION IN WHICH IT LIES AND IS DISPOSED IN A PLANE GENERALLYPARALLEL TO SAID SIDE MEMBERS IN THEIR RETRACTED POSITIONS, (E) SAID SEAT HAVING A PAIR OF LATERALLY APACED LONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING GROOVERS RECEIVABLE OVER SAID HORIZONTAL SEAT SUPPORTS, AND (F) A PAIR OF BOSSES ON THE WALLS OF SAID GROOVES ADJACENT THE REAR OF THE SEAT RECIVABLE UNDER SAID HORIZONTAL SEAT SUPPORTS UPON MOVEMENT OF SAID SEAT AND SIDE MEMBERS INTO OPERATIVE POSITION, SAID BOSSES RELEASABLY RETAINING SAID SEAT IN A FIXED POSITION WITH RESPECT TO AT LEAST SAID FIRST AXIS WHEN SAID SEAT IS IN OPERATIVE POSITION 